Younis and Misbah are very difficult to bowl at: Moeen Ali

Moeen Ali had a great Test series against Pakistan both with bat and ball as he averaged over 60 with bat and claimed vital wickets to go with that. In an interview with PakPassion.net, he spoke about his performance and experience in the recently concluded 4-match Test series against Pakistan, which was all squared at 2-2.

Starting off with the series result, he said that it was a “fair result” and from a player’s point of view he feels good to be involved in an evenly fought series. “We got challenged very well by Pakistan who played excellent cricket with a blend of experience and some good young players. It was a great series to be involved in,” Ali said.

He failed in the first Test match at Lord’s but was phenomenal in the remaining three matches. “It was nice to score some runs especially after the first Test at Lord’s where I went for a big shot. I was a bit down after that but then I worked hard on my batting and in the end, I was actually quite pleased with the way I played during the rest of the series.”

Speaking about the Pakistan batmen’s plan to come hard at him, he said that it is obvious that they will be waiting for the spinner to come into the attack after facing 4 pacers. He also added that working with Saqlain Mushtaq as one of the best things that have happened to him.

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“Working with Saqlain was one of the best things that have happened to me. He was brilliant tactically and mentally. He focused mainly on the mental aspects of bowling and did not say much about the technical side of the game as he was obviously only there for a short period. Most of his advice was about tactics, field placing and about the opposition batsmen that I was up against,” he said.

Misbah has a lot of respect among English cricketers:

Ali also lamented the fact that the Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq has a lot of respect among English cricketers as he admitted that Misbah’s batting has surprised a lot of opposition players. “He is amazing. All of the England players have a lot of respect for him. He controls the Pakistan team and the way he leads the team just commands respect. At 42, he is still churning out the runs and the way he batted actually surprised a lot of us.”

He was not short of words when he praised Younis Khan, who hit a double century in the final Test match which almost ensured awin for Pakistan. “The likes of Younis and Misbah are very difficult to bowl at when they are playing well. The best thing about Misbah and Younis is that they are nice people and I have a lot more respect for guys like that.”

On Mohammad Amir’s came back for a Test match series after the 5-year ban for spot-fixing, Ali said, “Aamer made his mistake and he served his time out of the game. Once he was back playing against us, we respected him as a person and a cricketer. There was nothing against him from our side and he just put his head down and concentrated on working hard for his team. He was a big part of why Pakistan drew the Test series.”

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After his stellar performances, he was appreciated by both the English as well as the Pakistani fans. “I absolutely loved it. I did not expect it. I was not sure what the reaction from the Pakistani fans would be, but to get cheers from both sets of fans was fantastic. The Pakistani supporters were brilliant with me and I appreciate that from them. I would like to thank all the fans from both sides for their support.”

Need to look to get better in each game: Moeen Ali:

The 29-year old also revealed that he would love to move up the batting order and but for that to happen he needs to produce runs consistently and that is something he is looking forward to. “There are also some terrific players who cannot get into the side at the moment, like Jonny Bairstow. Right now we are in a good place, playing some good cricket and we need to keep this going. We had a change of mindset and it’s working and we just need to look to get better in each game,” he said about the current England ODI side, who is on a roll.

When asked about the upcoming series against Bangladesh and India, he said that the sub-continent teams will offer a different sort of challenge altogether.

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“We undoubtedly have a good side and hopefully, we will be alright, especially given we have so many good all-rounders which should ultimately make a big difference. India looks a very difficult place to play and it will be a tough challenge for all of us. It will obviously be different to the UAE where we played against Pakistan but we are confident and as long as we prepare well, we will be fine,” he concluded.